Kingdom Hearts: Online
by NragedChinchilla
Summary: Thousands upon Thousands of people logged into the VRMMORPG Kingdom Hearts Online the day it released, however they did not realize in doing so they were participating in a sinister experiment that they wouldn't be able to escape. Dive into the world of Kingdom Hearts: Online, where a war between the Darkness and Light has begun, and the stakes are higher than anyone knows...
1. Chapter 1

**(AN: This story is a mash up of concepts used in Kingdom Hearts and Sword Art Online featuring mostly Original Characters, though some characters from SAO and Kingdom Hearts will appear. Magic will be used in the game and there are changes to how the game works to accommodate the integration of Kingdom Hearts. Now, let's dive deep into Kingdom Hearts Online.)**

Collin's eyes darted to the clock on the wall; the digital display read 9:43, two minutes left in class. He then turned his eyes back to his professor who was rambling on about the biological functions of prokaryotic cells. A quick glance around the 200-person classroom showed that his peers were just as bored as he was. Most of them were discreetly checking their phones or absently doodling on their notepads. They most likely wanted nothing more than this class to end so they could go to their next class, or eat with their friends. Collin was anxious for a different reason altogether. Today was the day that Kingdom Hearts Online, a highly anticipated Virtual Reality MMORPG, was being released, and he was able to play it an hour earlier than anyone else. You see, Collin had participated in the beta for the game, and was the top player in the world. Among many in game perks that this brought him, it also allowed him to play the game an hour early. Unfortunately, the game was being released at midnight in Japan; meaning Collin had to log on at 10 am.

The sound of his classmates putting their things away brought Collin back to attention as he stood up from his seat and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He then joined the rush of his classmates rushing out the door of the classroom and into the crisp Midwest autumn air. Collin zipped up his brown leather jacket and descended the steps of Cunningham Hall, the biological sciences building of Kent State University. He pulled his smart phone out of his pocket and opened the text message application and tapped on the name DJ, one of Collin's friends from high school who also had a love for the Kingdom Hearts series. In all honesty, he was one of Collin's only friends. It was Collin's third year at Kent State and he hadn't met anyone other than his roommate who he got along with. It didn't help that all his other friends were at different colleges that were over 2 hours away.

 _You excited for KH:O today?_ Collin typed.

 _Of course!_ DJ replied.

 _Awesome, meet me outside the train station in Twilight Town when you get in._

 _I'll take you to an area where it's really easy to level grind._

 _Will do, what's your player name again? I'm going to use Weiss as mine_

 _Mine's Nox._

 _I still can't believe you get to play an hour early…_

 _Well that's what happens when you're the best, you get to reap the benefits ;)._

 _I'll ttyl, 'bout to drive home._ Collin typed before slipping his phone in his pocket.

He walked into the parking lot, towards his car. He then unlocked the door of his gold Saturn SL1 and tossed his backpack into the passengers seat as he relaxed onto the distressed leather. He then put on his seatbelt turned the ignition and drove out of the school parking lot.

It took him about 10 minutes to drive to the apartment complex where he lived. He grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and exited his car, locking it as he walked to the main door of the building. He then walked down the long hallway in front of him to the second apartment on the right, Apartment 2. Collin unlocked the door and closed it behind him as he kicked off his shoes. The apartment was nothing special; it was divided into 2 floors. The first floor was a lounge area with a couch, glass table and a flat screen TV, along with a small kitchen and dining area. Collin tossed his keys on the table and his backpack on the couch and walked upstairs and into the bedroom on the right. As he walked in he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Short wiry black hair seemed to compliment his lightly tanned skin; his eyes were a curious shade of gold and brown with a ring of olive green surrounding the perimeter. He had an average stature and build for a 20 year old. He wore a brown leather jacket and black t-shirt along with jeans and sneakers. He continued to his desk that sat next to a window, tossing his jacket over the back of the chair that sat in front of it. He opened up his laptop that sat on the desk and connected a Nerve Gear helmet to the laptop. He then lay down on his bed and put the helmet on. Almost immediately a digital display showed up before his eyes. Collin checked the time in the upper right corner of the display. 9:59am.

"Link Start" he said forcefully.

Almost immediately, his vision was flooded with a cascade of colors. 5 blue circles appeared and flashed green, showing that his 5 senses were working. Collin then entered his login information and selected his preferred language as English. A message then appeared reading, " **Would you like to load your beta character 'NOX' ?"** Collin selected yes and then another message appeared reading " **Welcome to Kingdom Hearts: Online"**

Collin then was enveloped in a blinding white light. It then faded revealing he was in an all white room with a large door in front of him. He swiped his hand vertically and brought up the menu and checked his character's info. " _Better make sure I have a weapon, everything about this place is screaming 'It's a Trap!'"_

 _Name:Nox_

 _Weapon: Sword_

 _Level:30_

 _Accessories:_

 _Fencers Earring [E]_

 _Weapons:_

 _Dream Sword_

There was also a picture of his character, a man with long straight black hair, a grey shirt with a large silver X in the center and baggy black pants, with the series standard of unnecessary belts and zippers. He equipped his Dream Sword, one of the strongest swords in the game, and his reward for being the best beta player, and immediately it appeared in his hands. Its silver short blade reflected the light of the room. It had an elegant gold pommel and a curved gold hilt containing a red gem with 3 connected black circles, and its handle was wrapped with dark blue material. He smirked as he gripped the handle, its weight comfortable in his hands. He was no longer Collin, a regular College student; he was now Nox the sword-wielding champion of Kingdom Hearts Online.

 _Man, this is pretty different than the beta._ He reflected as he placed his hand against the door and it swung open without a sound. He stepped into the room noticing a figure in a red hooded coat sitting on a pure white throne. Nox walked carefully towards the man, stopping when he stood in front of his throne.

"Hello Nox, I am Kayaba Akihito the main developer of Kingdom Hearts: Online, and I am truly honored to meet you." His voice boomed, his voice sounded very distorted and robotic. "I am sorry for the technical glitch with my voice, the translating software is still being perfected. Launch day issues, I'm sure you understand." He chuckled.

"Of course sir." Nox replied. In the beta, there were players from all over the world; many of them had difficulty talking to each other because of the language barrier. Since then, Square Enix, the company behind the Kingdom Hearts series, had released a message saying that they were working on translation software so players could better understand each other when the game officially launched.

"Now I'm sure you're wondering why you are here instead of in the starting area of Twilight Town. Don't worry it will all be explained soon." Kayaba continued.

As the words left his lips the door swung open again, revealing a tall thin player with short white hair walking into the room. He was wearing a red sleeveless shirt with a black X in the middle and black pants, his hands were covered with black fingerless gloves, his hands clenched into fists. In between his fingers he held strange curved black knifes that were edged with gold, making them almost look like sinister claws.

"Ah… the second champion arrives, welcome Braxton…" Kayaba sighed. "Now it is time to explain to both of you why you are here. As you both know, Kingdom Hearts at its core is about chosen wielders of the Keyblade and their struggle for or against the Darkness. Therefore, due to your accomplishments during the beta, you both have been selected as the chosen champions of the Light and the Dark." He waved his hand and streams of code surrounded Nox and Braxton's hands.

Nox looked at the weapon now in his hands, it was a sword blade enveloped in blue, white, and gold filigree with a sliver crown to provide the 'teeth' to the Keyblade, two silver crowns were on the guard, and the chain was also 3 silver crowns. He then hovered his hand above the weapon where it displayed the name **Ultima Weapon**. Nox looked over at the man called Braxton, his keyblade had a cog-like design at its head with a long grey blade with a bronze cod in the center and a red and black cog as the guard. It also had two blue eyes of darkness at the head and hilt. From playing the Kingdom Hearts games throughout his life, Nox knew that this weapon was the Void Gear. Nox then noticed that he also had a new item called the 'recusant sigil'.

"Now let us get on with your roles." Kayaba continued. "Braxton, throughout the beta, you betrayed those you called your allies, destroyed your enemies without remorse, and exemplified the attributes of darkness. Therefore, you are the champion of Darkness, your goal throughout this game is to spread darkness to all of the worlds and destroy the tyranny of Light in a war that will begin in 2 years, resulting in the deaths of many players. You can accomplish this alone, or you can recruit others to help you with this goal. You can even grant other players Keyblades of their own by marking them with the recusant sigils I have given you. Of course, you're going to need something more fitting of a Champion of Darkness than those clothes." He waved his hand again and Braxton was covered in code. When it dissipated, he was wearing a black and red jumpsuit that looked almost organic, his face was covered by a silver and black helmet.

"Wait… what did you mean when you said people would die in the war?" Nox interjected before Kayaba could continue.

"Well, in two years the war between the Light and the Dark will begin. At that point, all death within the game will be permanent. This is the true nature of Kingdom Hearts Online, I want to see which is stronger, the light or the dark. Now, I really should explain the role of the champion of Light." Kayaba began.

"Don't bother, I'm done with this." Nox shouted opening his menu. He moved his hand to where the log-out button should have been only it was blank.

"Oh… I should have mentioned, there is no logging out from Kingdom Hearts Online. Once you log in, you're trapped until the experiment is complete and either the Light or the Dark is victorious. If someone tries to take the Nerve Gear off of you, a radio wave from the Nerve Gear will shoot through your brain, killing you instantly." Kayaba continued with a sinister tone coming through his digitized voice. "And before you try it, if you strike down Braxton now, he will only respawn and will continue with his mission as the champion of Darkness."

Nox threw his Keyblade at Kayaba in rage. The weapon only bounced off an invisible barrier and landed on the floor. The man only laughed.

"That's not going to work either, now pick up your blade and accept the role that destiny has chosen for you."

"No." Nox firmly replied. "I refuse to be a part of your sick game. I'll find a way to stop this war, and I won't do it on the side of the Light or the Dark." He then turned to walk out the door.

"Fine." Kayaba snickered. "Then I guess you'll have to anguish away in nothingness and doom the Light to destruction." He waved his hand and Nox was enveloped in code and blinding light.

When he could finally see, he realized he was in a dark cityscape, rain was lightly falling down and thunder could be heard in the distance. The neon lights of the buildings illuminating the dark streets, along with something else. Nox looked up and saw a yellow heart-shaped moon in the sky.

"Ah… shit." He mumbled before he looked down and noticed he was wearing a black coat known to all Kingdom Hearts fans as the dress of Organization XIII. "Well, that's to be partially expected, he did say I would anguish in nothingness." He mumbled to himself before he noticed that there were multiple pairs of yellow eyes surrounding him. Each of them belonging to a Neoshadow heartless, their human-sized bodies crowding against each other making it almost indiscernible how many there were. "Double shit." He exclaimed, reaching his hand out, hoping that a weapon would materialize.

To his surprise, a white light appeared in his hands and a keyblade materialized, however it wasn't the Ultima Weapon. It instead was a Keyblade with black and white 'teeth', its shaft was silver and the guard was black, the hilt was imbedded with the Nobody emblem. Nox recognized this blade immediately as Two Become One. A smirk ran across Nox's lips as he gripped the Keyblade with two hands and positioned it in front of him.

"Alright you Heartless bastards, come get some!" He exclaimed.

Almost as if they were waiting for the invitation, a group of 10 Neoshadows leapt at Nox, their long claws extended. He was expecting this though, as shouted, "Fire!" As the words left his lips, 3 rings of flames spun around his body and set the Neoshadows that were caught in the spell ablaze, killing them almost instantly. He then slashed his keyblade at a Neoshadow in front of him, causing it to dissipate. 3 more Neoshadow's lept at Nox, but he deflected their blows with his keyblade and then lifted it to the sky. "Thunder!" He commanded. Multiple bolts of lightning fell from the sky, decimating multiple Heartless that were crowded around Nox. Nox then slashed at another Neoshadow, but he failed to see one that was lunging for him as its claws raked across his side. He cried out in pain and turned, slashing at the Heartless and destroying it. He then slashed at another heartless, bringing his blade from his left shoulder to his right hip. Then he spun the blade around and slashed upwards, launching the next heartless into the sky where he followed. Suspended in midair, Nox brought down a devastating air combo on the Neoshadow, slashing his Keyblade in a downward slash from his right shoulder, then cutting across the Heartless's midsection, and finally bringing down a two-handed cut from above his head. The heartless dissipated as Nox fell to the ground. He landed on his feet and raised his Keyblade again. "Gather!" A massive magnetic force appeared above Nox's head. All the remaining Neoshadows were then drawn into the force, taking damage as they swirled around. The force dissipated and the Neoshadows fell to the ground, where Nox was waiting. "Fire!" Nox was yet again surrounded by a flaming vortex, as the Neoshadows fell into the inferno, dissipating into black puffs as they touched the vortex. Nox looked around, noticing there were no enemies left as his Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light. He then became aware that he was breathing very hard. He sat down on the wet pavement trying to catch his breath when he noticed that he had a new message. Nox swiped open his menu and opened the message. His blood turned to ice when he read the subject line: **From Kayaba.**

 **Dear Nox,**

 **While I am impressed with your resilience to your role in this game, you should know, you are the only one who is the true Champion of Light. This means that you are the only one who can grant Keyblades to the warriors who support the side of Light and the only one who can wield the Ultima Weapon. Therefore the responsibility also falls on you to seal the Keyholes of the Worlds until another Keyblade wielder for the Light arises. You see, all of the different worlds in this game are overrun with Heartless, and will be until their Keyhole is sealed. Then players will be allowed to advance to the next world. Even if you decide to fight with the side of the Light but still will not take your place as champion, they will reject you. However, I am not an unfair man and I foresaw that you may have ended up rejecting your destiny. So, I took the liberty of creating a Nobody faction. If you chose to continue rejecting destiny, then let me welcome you to your new home, The World that Never Was. This place was intended to be a secret world, so it is different from any of the other worlds you will encounter. I don't want to spoil anything, but trust me; there are surprises at every turn in this World. There are also other changes to the game now that the Nobodies have appeared, but I'm sure you'll figure those out. Have fun trying to rebel against the inevitable without any help! – Kayaba Akihito**

Nox closed the message and sighed, " _Well, he is right about one thing… I'm all alone, and I have no one to help me."_ He then noticed an alert reading **Nobody Skill Tree Unlocked.** He opened the alert and a branching skill tree appeared before him. He noticed that the first skill had been unlocked already; he tapped on it to read the description. **Corridors of Darkness: As a member of the Nobody Faction, you can now travel between worlds using the Corridors of Darkness.** The description then went into detail on how to open the Corridor.

Nox stood up and placed his hand out. An oval shaped swirling mass of darkness appeared from the ground as he did so. Nox then stepped into the Corridor and was ready to face whatever awaited him on the other side.


	2. Chapter 2

**(AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. As a quick heads up, once a player enters the game and creates their account, I start referring to them as their screen name as opposed to their name in real life. Sorry if this caused any confusion.)**

DJ was free falling and he couldn't stop. A moment ago he had put on the Nerve Gear and logged into Kingdom Hearts: Online. He then customized his avatar to share his height and dark skin and gave him dreadlocks reaching down to his shoulders, along with a more muscular form than he had and ice blue eyes. Also he was wearing a light blue hoodie with a black shirt underneath and black pants. As soon as he finished the customization, he found himself lying vertically and falling into a never-ending darkness. The funny thing was, he couldn't feel a damn thing. There was no wind rushing past him and no sensation of a free fall. In fact, he wouldn't know he was falling apart from his shirt flapping in front of his eyes. Suddenly, his body went vertical and his feet contacted with solid ground slowly, as if he was stepping off a platform. He looked around at the ground and saw nothing but blackness. Then a burst of light appeared, almost blinding DJ as white doves flew past him. When his vision cleared he looked around at his feet and saw he was standing in the middle of a large stain glass circle. In the middle was the image of a blue moon in the shape of a heart surrounded by grey glass. Surrounding the perimeter of the platform were smaller circles with crowns in the middle of them. Suddenly text appeared before DJ.

 _Welcome to Kingdom Hearts: Online…. Before you are allowed to proceed, there are some questions you must answer. First what is your name?_

A keyboard appeared before DJ's hands and he typed in his screen name **Weiss** and hit enter.

 _Weiss, what is most important to you?_

"My friends and family." He answered.

 _What do you want out of life?_

"To live the life I want to live."

 _In a war, would you side with your friends even if they were on the wrong side?_

"No, I would remain neutral and refuse to fight my friends or for the wrong side."

 _What are you most afraid of?_

"Being alone"

 _If you had to choose, would you fight in the light, or in the dark?_

"I would fight in both, there cannot be light without dark and vice versa."

 _How would your friends describe your personality?_

"Kind, and a little crazy."

 _Finally, if you saw a stranger being attacked in an alley, what would you do?_

"Help him to the best of my ability, even if it meant fighting his attacker."

A second later the circles around the perimeter of the stain glass shot out columns of white light, each bearing the image of a different weapon. Weiss looked around and walked to the column that bared the image of a sword.

 _Is this the weapon you choose?_

 _"_ Yes"

Instantly a short sword appeared in Weiss' hand. Its blade was as long as his arm and its blade was slightly curved, giving it an appearance of a machete. Its handle was wrapped with black leather, while the blade itself was a dark blue and the sharpened edge was a light blue. The other columns faded away.

 _This weapon will follow you on all of your travels. You can bring up its skill tree in your menu._

Weiss swiped open his menu and selected the Weapon skill tree tab. Suddenly an intricate web of skills appeared on the side of Wiess' sword. "Cool." He mused.

 _Now let us go over the combat system. For now, we will only go over weapon combat, as you will learn magic later in the game._

Presently, 5 knee-high beings of shadow with bulging yellow eyes appeared before Weiss. He instantly recognized them as Shadow heartless. Small green health bars appeared over each of their heads.

 _Use your sword to attack the enemies in front of you._

" _Don't have to tell me twice."_ Weiss thought as he gripped his sword and rushed at the Heartless. He slashed the first one he reached with a one-handed vertical strike upwards. The Heartless flew back as Weiss slashed at a Heartless to his right, and then hit it again with a two-handed overhand strike. Its health bar dissipated as it dissolved into shadow. Weiss then felt claws raking his side as he cursed in pain. He reflexively struck out with his sword and was rewarded with the sound of the blade contacting with two Heartless, their bodies flying back and dissipating into darkness as their health bars blinked out. He then faced the final Shadow. Weiss ran towards it as it began slinking towards him. Weiss then jumped towards it, his sword extended as it plunged into the chest of the Heartless. As the Shadow dissipated, it seemed to give Weiss a look through its yellow eyes that said _"Really bro?"_ Weiss then noticed an alert icon appearing in front of him. He tapped on it and was greeted with a message that read **Tutorial Completed! Level 2 reached. Rewards: 1 Skill Point, 300 Munny, Light and Dark skill trees Unlocked!**

Weiss swiped open the menu and selectedthe Skill Tree tab. There was a new tree tab labeled **Faction** next to the existing **Weapon** tab. Weiss thought for a moment and then decided to save his skill point. _"I don't know that much about the faction system yet, and I'm comfortable enough with my sword that I don't need to use the point yet."_ He thought to himself.

Suddenly Weiss found himself surrounded by white light. When he was able to see again he found himself in a crowd of people all standing in a city marketplace. The light from a sunset painted a peaceful light over the market as more and more people were teleported into the area. An incoherent mumbling overtook the crowd as they talked amongst themselves, trying to figure out what was going on. Weiss noticed that a message had appeared before him. **Twilight Town: Tram Common.** Upon a second look, he could easily recognize the location. The many shops strewn around the area were currently closed. Weiss then noticed something out of the corner of his eye on top of the Synthesis Shop. He turned his head and noticed someone wearing a dark coat standing on the roof, trying to blend into the shadows and doing a pretty good job. Suddenly a red hexagon appeared in the sky reading **System Announcement** drawing Wiess' attention away from the person in the coat.

The sky became covered in red hexagons all bearing the same message. Then, a red liquid began seeping from the sky as it collected as it hit an invisible barrier.

 _"Okay then… the sky is bleeding. Square Enix really wanted that M rating…"_ Weiss thought to himself as the 'blood' collected to form a massive person in a red hooded coat.

"Welcome players to Kingdom Hearts Online! I am Kayaba Akihito, developer of this game. I guess you could all say you're in my world now." His voice boomed with a slight chuckle at the end. At least Weiss hoped it was a chuckle, Kayaba's voice was very distorted.

"I must apologize for my voice. The translation software hasn't been fully patched yet. But I digress, we have bigger things to move onto." Kayaba continued. "As some of you have noticed by now, the log out button is missing from your menu, this is not a glitch or an error. It is an integral part of the game, you will not be able to log out of Kingdom Hearts Online until the completion of the game."

Immediately Weiss and many people in the crowd opened their menus and found that Kayaba was telling the truth. Where the log out button was supposed to be, there was only a blank space. Immediately gasps of horror overtook the crowd.

"Why would you do something like this?" a voice called out from the crowd.

"I was just about to answer that!" Kayaba answered gleefully. " You see, Kingdom Hearts is about a struggle between the Light and the Dark and I've always wanted to know which is stronger. Now we will be able to find out! As all of you should have seen by now, you have Faction skill trees. This is because every one of you will have to choose what side you will join, either the Light or the Dark. Each side comes with its advantages and disadvantages. In two years, the war for control of the worlds will begin and we will find out which side is stronger. Each side will be lead by a designated champion. These champions already have been chosen, and wield Keyblades. If these champions find you worthy, you too can wield this legendary weapon. Now, those aligned with the Dark, you will mostly be in the realm of Darkness for the next two years, training and following orders from your champion. Those aligned with the light will be traveling through the worlds, fighting the Heartless and pushing the Darkness back to where it came from. This is important, because the way this war will be one is when the Champion of either side is defeated and the Home World, or Base if you prefer that term, of a faction has been taken over. The more worlds that the Light conquers, the more worlds the Darkness will have to reclaim, if the Light doesn't free many worlds from the darkness, then the Darkness will have an easier time defeating the Light."

While an excited whisper began amongst the crowd, there was a question left in the air, a question that no one wanted answered and yet needed to be answered. Finally a shaky voice rose amongst the crowd and yelled out. "What… happens if we die in the game? Will we… you know… die in real life?"

Kayaba chuckled for a moment then answered, "If you die in the game you will not die in real life. What do you think this is, Tron? The only way you will die in this game will be if someone tries to remove the Nerve Gear from your head. Which brings me to the somber news of today. Unfortunately 205 people died when their families and friends attempted to remove their Nerve Gear."

Another gasp overtook the crowd, almost a mix of horror and relief, as they at least knew that death in game wouldn't result in their death in real life.

"Now for one final thing. I have a gift for all of you. If you open your inventory you will find it. Now I'll leave you to play whatever roles destiny has chosen for you." He said, slowly disappearing into purple smoke.

Wiess opened his inventory and opened up an item called **Kayaba's Gift**. Suddenly a mirror appeared in his hand and he was bathed in a bright light. When it dissipated, Weiss saw his reflection in the mirror. It was his face, his true face. His natural dreads were only down to his chin; his eyes were their natural shade of grey-green. He looked down and saw his body was identical to the way it looked in real life; lean but not without muscle. Weiss looked around and saw this transformation had affected the other players as well. Some of them were shorter; some found their guts become more pronounced. Then there was the startling and quite humorous image of the male players who had selected their gender as female, including a larger player who was wearing a frilly pink skirt.

Weiss got over the initial shock and then remembered what his friend said in the real world. _Meet me outside the train station in Twilight Town._ He started running, shoving his way through the crowd until he reached the beginning of Market Street. Weiss then began running up the steep incline. That's when the Heartless showed up. They were all Shadows so Weiss had no problem cutting them down as he ran up the incline. He finally reached the top and slowed down to a walk, gasping as he caught his breath. He looked around and took in the scenery, to his right was a stunning view of the eternal sunset that bathed this World in twilight. As he drew his sword and rushed to fight them, he didn't notice that a barrier materialized, sealing off the exits from the plaza. He also didn't notice the Corridor of Darkness opening behind him as a figure in a dark coat stepped out.

Weiss rushed the Heartless, his sword drawn. He started hacking and slashing at them before multiple bolts of lightning fell down, decimating all the Heartless on the plaza. Weiss looked around, trying to see who had cast the spell, but before he could see anyone he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pull him, throwing him into an oval-shaped mass of darkness. Weiss rose up his hands to protect his face as he flew through the Corridor and landed on solid ground. His body ached as he stood up and dusted himself off. He then about had a heart attack when he realized where he was. To his right were multiple ornate columns, and to his left was a sheer drop down to the plaza of the train station. He was on the ledge of the clock tower; while it was large enough that he could comfortably turn around, and even fight if he needed too. One misstep and he would plummet to his death. He turned around and saw the man in the black coat was standing at the other end of the ledge, a green health bar over his head. In his hand he was loosely holding a large silver weapon, its black and silver teeth along with its design made Weiss' eyes widen as he recognized it as the Keyblade Two Become One. Weiss summoned his sword and gripped the handle as he flew at the man.

Weiss flew at the man and slashed at him with a diagonal cut which was quickly parried with such strength that Weiss almost lost grip on his sword. The man then delivered a cut to Weiss' stomach that sent him reeling in pain and halved his health. Weiss then gripped his sword with two hands and positioned it so it was in a more defensive position. The man casually slashed at Weiss, which Weiss was able to intercept and block. Their weapons were interlocked, sword and Keyblade in between two men trying to kill each other. However, Weiss was holding his sword with both hands and was barely holding back the strangers Keyblade, which he was using with one hand. _"This guy either found some way to hack the game, or I'm dealing with a high level NPC. Either way I'm screwed."_ Weiss thought to himself, grasping for an idea of how to leave this fight with his dignity still intact when he noticed his opponents footing was slightly off. Weiss used all of his strength to push the Keyblade off to the side as he swept his leg out to catch his opponent off balance. It worked as the stranger let out an involuntary cry and lost his balance, falling down. Weiss took this chance to unleash a flurry of stabs and slashes, damaging the man as much as he could. It took the stranger to regain his thoughts before he leapt up and back, gripping his Keyblade in a reverse style. Weiss glanced at his opponent's health bar; it barely in the yellow zone. He didn't have much time to lament on this however because the stranger flew at him, slashing with his Keyblade. Weiss's brain and body were barely keeping up with blocking the flurry of attacks that were coming at him. His opponent's technique was highly unpredictable, he was switching the way he held his blade, changing his stance, whirling the blade around as he tried to land a blow on Weiss.

Then Weiss felt a sharp pain across his chest, he looked down and saw a large red gash. He then saw that his health bar was one point away from zero. He fell to his knees in disbelief and began panting, exhaustion taking over him he then looked up at his opponent who had his Keyblade right next to Weiss' head.

"Any last words?" The stranger gruffly asked.

"You should know, if you strike me down now I'll become more powerful than you could imagine, just so I can find you and defeat you." Weiss replied, bowing his head.

The stranger was silent for a second and then burst out laughing. He unequipped his Keyblade as he continued letting the laughter pour out. "Holy shit man, if you are going to chose dying words, at least make them original! Or at least more threatening than the old 'I will become more powerful than you imagine'." He said in between laughs as he sat down holding his head in his hands. The stranger threw his head back, clutching his sides and his hood fell back revealing his face. Weiss instantly recognized the short wiry hair, lightly tanned face, and gold and brown eyes in an instant.

"You fucking asshole…" Weiss cried in disbelief, causing Nox to howl in more laughter. Questions began flooding through his head, but he asked the most pressing one "Why the Hell did you decide to fight me?"

"I thought it would be funny, besides I needed some way to mark you." Nox replied, gasping for air.

"Mark me for what?!" Weiss asked incredulously.

"Oh, to be a Keyblade wielder." Nox smirked.


	3. Chapter 3

**(AN: Thanks for being patient while I worked on updating the story guys, sorry it took so long, I've had some changes in my work and school schedule recently. I'll be trying to write more often so I can regularly update the story.)**

Weiss' head was reeling from all the information that was just presented to him as he sat next to his friend. Nox had told him everything, his meeting with Kayaba, the Two years they had before death became permanent, even that his friend had rejected his destiny. One question still purveyed through his mind.

"Why did you need to attack me to mark me as a Keyblade wielder? Wouldn't it just have been easier to explain this to me without the fight?" He questioned.

"Well, the item description for the recusant sigil says it can only be bestowed to the worthy. Since this is an MMO, I figure that you have to prove yourself to me through combat or something." Nox replied pulling up his menu. He tapped on an item and two sticks of blue ice cream bars appeared in his hand. "Sea salt ice cream? I grabbed some after Kayaba gave his God Complex speech."

Weiss smirked and accepted the ice cream bar; he took a bite out of it. Immediately his mouth was filled with the cool taste of the salty yet sweet ice cream. "Well, at least we won't have to deal with tasteless food while we're trapped in this sick game." Weiss chuckled, "So what happens now? I mean, you seem pretty set on the insane task of ending a war before it begins, and you said yourself you can't do it alone."

"Easy, I'm going to build an army of my own. Kayaba said I was now the leader of the Nobody Faction, so I figure I might as well keep with game cannon and make it Organization XIII. We will work in the Realm of the Dark and Light so that the war will be stopped. I'll also have to choose Keyblade wielders for the realm of Light so they won't be left completely defenseless should I fail." Nox replied. He then paused and looked Wiess straight in the eyes. "Weiss, you're one of my closest friends, and you're who I want as my number II in this Organization. However, I don't want to force you into a faction you don't want to choose. So, I'm going to give you a choice, you can join me in my quest or you can choose another path. I'll be fine with whatever road you take. You should already have the Nobody skill tree available, so if you want to join me use a skill point to unlock the first trait." Nox replied, standing up and putting his hood back up. "I will have to say, if you do join me you will have to undergo a name change. You are joining the Organization after all, and I do like to keep the theme of Kingdom Hearts consistent."

Weiss chuckled as he stood up and looked Nox in the eyes. "If you think I'm going to let you charge into Hell alone you're crazier than I am." He opened his menu and accepted the **Corridors of Darkness** perk. Immediately his clothes were replaced with the trademark Black Coat of the Organization. The letters of his name appeared in translucent silver between Nox and him. Nox held out his hand and the letters swirled around before they reappeared and fell into a new order, the W in his name had replaced by an X. The letters spelled **Essix**. He then joined Nox's party.

"Welcome to the Organization Essix, now lets go to our new home." Nox said opening up a Corridor of Darkness. "But first, I have one more thing I need to do." He continued, holding out his Keyblade towards the sun. Suddenly a large keyhole appeared in midair, and a beam of thin brilliant light shot out of the Keyblade, going through the keyhole as it emitted a bright light.

"There, now everyone can progress to the next world." Nox said as he and Essix turned and walked into the corridor.

Essix walked through the swirling mass of dark energy and then found himself in a dark alleyway. Rain was pouring down from dark clouds, illuminated by a bright heart-shaped moon.

"Welcome to the World that Never Was Essix." Nox said. "Now, here's the fun part. We need to fight our way through the streets and all the way through the Castle to claim this place as our own. Which should be interesting, considering there are only two of us… and you're level 2."

"So it's basically a suicide mission?" Essix asked, his eyes darting around, making sure enemies didn't sneak up on them.

"Yeah… basically…" Nox replied, half shrugging as he flipped up his hood and summoned his Keyblade. "But… since everything here is over leveled, I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to level up pretty quickly."

"Well that's… good" Essix replied, flipping up his own hood and drawing his sword. "So, where do we start?" He said as he positioned his sword in a diagonal defensive stance.

"Follow me" Nox replied, walking forward into an ally way that seemed to be pulsating with darkness, his Keyblade slung over his shoulders. Essix followed suit, and as they stepped into the ally, the darkness sprouted bulging yellow eyes and close in on them. Essix brought up his sword in a defensive pose, bracing for the darkness to overtake him. Then all of a sudden he heard Nox shout out "REFLECT!" and a silvery, transparent dome encircled them both, causing the darkness to encompass the dome. Then Nox followed it up with a lightning spell, making a small dent in the massive swirl of heartless that was around them.

"Damn, thought that would be more effective." Nox mumbled.

"Hey Nox, do you remember what level you gain access to magic in the game?" Essix asked cautiously as cracks started to form in the reflect spell that was protecting them.

"Level 5, I'm pretty sure."

"Great… so the best I can probably do right now is poke the angry swirl of death with a pointy stick." Essix groaned.

"Hey, it could be worse! The fighting system could be based on Chain of Memories!" Nox chuckled.

As those words left Nox's lips, the reflect spell broke and darkness cascaded upon Nox and Essix. Instead of re-spawning though, they found themselves in the middle of a stained-glass platform in the middle of a black abyss. Also occupying this platform were over 50 Shadow heartless surrounding them. " _This must be how the game handle's larger conflicts."_ , Essix thought to himself. He and Nox jumped to a back-to-back defensive stance with their weapons drawn.

"Alright, I'll take care of my side if you promise to not let too many get past you Essix." Nox said jokingly.

"Fuck you Nox." Essix grumbled as he cut down the first heartless that leapt at him, or at least left a large red gash in its chest as its health bar fell into the yellow zone. " _Well, shit!"_ Essix thought as the Shadow looked down at its chest, possibly surprised it was still alive, and leapt at Essix again. The counter attack from Essix slashed off its head. As it dissipated, its brethren leapt at Essix. He gulped, as he started hacking and slashing at each enemy that came within swords reach, focusing on keeping them at bay with slashes rather then focusing on killing them one at a time. Meanwhile, Nox was having no problems taking out everything that was being thrown at him, the Shadows fell and dissipated with each slash of his Keyblade. He could feel a smile creeping across his face as he slaughtered the enemies with ease. Eventually there were no more enemies left, and they found themselves transported back to the ally. Essix noticed he had leveled up to Level 6. He quickly opened up his menu and saw that a new Magic skill tree had opened up. He dedicated a skill point to it, unlocking the first spell, Fire. There was then an option to either use it defensively, as a circling vortex that surrounded the caster, or offensively, firing a fireball from the caster to hit an enemy. Essix selected the offensive version, and then dispensed his other skill points into his weapon tree, increasing his attack and speed, along with unlocking a new skill _Combo Plus_ that added an additional attact to his combos. " _That should help if I actually get to attack something in this game_!" He thought to himself as he looked over at Nox casting a Cura spell, bringing both of their health bars back to green.

"Thanks." Essix said.

"No problem. Good job back there, glad you didn't die." Nox replied

"Yeah, and I gained a few levels while I was at it."

"Not too shabby, now lets get a move on. You'll be at a decent level in no time."

"You can say that agai… Wait, what do you mean decent level!?" Essix shouted as he hurried to catch up with his friend who had already walked to the end of the alley. For the next few areas of the cityscape they were in, they really didn't come across any notable encounters, mostly small groups of Shadows and Neoshadows. Eventually they made their way to an open space with a large illuminated skyscraper, a small bit of text appeared and informed them that this was Memories Skyscraper. A hooded figure stood at the base of the steps that lead to the front door of the skyscraper. Essix and Nox looked at each other and at the hooded figure.

"So, my munny's on this being Roxas. What do you think Essix?" Nox joked

"I say Riku." Essix replied.

They walked toward the hooded figure, which brandished a black keyblade that they both instantly recognized as Oblivion. He then threw back his hood, revealing a completely dark figure with a blindfold over his eyes and long dark hair. Four Health bars appeared over his head.

"OH GREAT! IT'S ANTI-RIKU! Seriously Kayaba, you couldn't have given us a normal boss! YOU HAVE TO GIVE US HIS OP ANTI-FORM! When I find you I'm going to shove this Keyblade so far up your ass-" Nox began shouting at the sky, but before he could finish his rant, the Anti-Riku teleported above him and slammed his keyblade into the ground, sending out a shockwave that sent Nox and Essix flying back. Essix was reeling as he started to stand up, seeing that the Anti-Riku was attacking Nox, who was still lying on the ground, he shot off a fire spell, which contacted with the boss, but caused almost no damage whatsoever. Nox, meanwhile, was defending against a barrage of attacks that Anti-Riku was throwing at him. Eventually he saw an opening and he stabbed at Anti-Riku, pushing with all of his strength to get the boss off of him. The Keyblade actually sank into the boss, dealing damage as he was pushed off of the Keyblade wielder. Nox worked his way up to his feet as he continued pushing the blade into the boss' chest. The boss then teleported away, back into the sky. But Nox was ready this time and he rushed away as Anti-Riku slammed down, barely escaping the shock wave. He found himself next to Essix as they looked at each other.

"So… I'm guessing I distract him while you deal damage?" Essix asked.

"I mean… yeah, we could do that, or just hit him whenever we see an opening." Nox replied.

Essix shrugged as Anti-Riku lunged himself at the two, his blade outstretched. No matter what they did, Essix knew they were in for the fight of their lives.


	4. Chapter 4

In a dark room, only lit by computer screens Kayaba Akihito sat in his chair, looking at the multiple monitors around him. For all intents and purposes, the first day was going well. A few of the monitors were showing news feeds from the real world, all of them discussing the events of the day, showing live footage of the players being transported to hospitals where special wings were being prepared to accommodate the new patients. Of course, there was also a manhunt underway for Kayaba, but they wouldn't find him, he had made sure of it. He then turned his attention to the monitors that were displaying the game worlds. In Twilight Town, players were forming parties, grinding on the base level mobs that inhabited the area. He was even able to view certain players from their POV, due to a bit of coding in the game that allowed him to patch into game capture card data. A few of the screens around him were compiling aggregate data, displaying information such as the highest leveled players, those with the most Munny, average enemies killed so far, the most popular weapons in the world (Sword, Chakaram, and Knives being the top 3) and the number of players in each faction. So far, the players were preforming as Kayaba expected. No one was focused on the larger goal at hand yet, as they were still in the first world and hadn't encountered either of the Champions. Many of them were probably working with players that would become their sworn enemies very soon.

"Oh, look at that, both of your champions are starting to make headway on their goals." A snarky voice observed behind Kayaba

Kayaba turned his attention to a monitor to his right; Braxton was fighting his way through Castle Oblivion, dispatching Nobodies that Kayaba had stocked in the area, providing Braxton with a challenge to occupy himself with until he could present himself before the other players. He watched Braxton intently, noting his fighting style, the way he quickly sidestepped incoming attacks and counterattacked with his Keyblade, and the special gift Kayaba had given him…

" _He truly is an adept fighter, I'm not surprised he became the-"_ Kayaba began thinking before he was interrupted by a loud shouting coming from the main monitor in front of him

"-couldn't have given us a normal boss! YOU HAVE TO GIVE US HIS OP ANTI-FORM! When I find you I'm going to shove this Keyblade so far up your ass-" The monitor blared. Kayaba turned his attention to the screen.

"Kid's got spunk, I can't wait to get my hands on him!" the voice said again, this time closer to Kayaba, to the point where he could feel the heat that the owner of the voice radiated.

"Ah… yes, the rebel _."_ He mused as he saw Nox taking on Anti-Riku, one of many bosses that inhabited the World that Never Was. He also noticed there was another black-coat with Nox. Kayaba pulled up the player information on the newest member of The Organization and started scanning the document.

"Nice, so there are now two rebels to worry about. You know, you could just give them to me and we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore…" Kayaba's guest began

"Thank you again for the offer Hades, but that would go against the entire point of this experiment." Kayaba responded sternly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I've tired of your company." He then snapped his fingers, and the grey-skinned, flame haired god of the dead disappeared in a mess of binary code.

He then turned his attention back to the monitor and watched as Nox and Essix continued their battle against the first boss of the World that Never Was.

" _Impressive Nox, you've already recruited another to your cause. You may actually start a notable resistance to my plan. It's to bad it's pointless, but the thought is nice."_ Kayaba mused. He then cracked his fingers, out of habit more than necessity, and began writing; he had a lot of work to do, and a lot of system announcements to write.

-Kingdom_Hearts_Online-

" _Fuck"_

That's all Nox could think as he saw Anti-Riku lunge at him and Essix, a quick look showed that his first health bar was only in the yellow. He had faced his fare share of bosses in the Beta. Hell, most of them he had beaten pretty easily. However, none of them had been Keyblade wielders, let alone the Anti form of Keyblade wielders. When Anti-Riku was within range, Nox cast a quick reflect spell, staggering his opponent who stumbled back, giving Nox and Essix the opening they needed. They rushed at the opponent, Nox reaching him first and slashing at him with a quick combo that left red gashes in Anti-Riku's torso. The force of the blows knocked the boss back to where Essix was waiting and delivered a blow to the boss's back. As Anti-Riku turned to face his new attacker, Essix delivered two slashes to its face, leaving a red X on the shadowed face. The blank eyes that stared back at Essix widened and Anti-Riku unleashed a flurry of attacks with his keyblade. Essix began trying to deflect the attacks, to little avail as his health bar began dwindling. Nox rushed over to his friend, firing off Blizzara to try and distract Anti-Riku. The blast of ice rushed at the boss, and connected with his back, dealing almost no damage. In frustration and desperation, Nox threw his Keyblade at the boss. It flew forward, spinning as it went and connected with Anti-Riku's back, sinking in and starting to deal continuous damage, whittling away at his health bar. The boss turned away from his current target and rushed at Nox, activating his Dark Aura technique. Essix, meanwhile fell to his knees, his health very close to being gone. Nox could do little but silently curse as Anti-Riku attacked him with blinding speed, slashing him again and again and cutting away chunks of his health. The pain was immense as Nox mustered the concentration to summon his keyblade back and block Anti-Riku's onslaught.

"Okay" Nox grumbled, coughing up red pixels as alarms blared in his ears. "Now you've really pissed me off!"

Nox slashed out at Anti-Riku, hitting his weapon away and opening the body up for a 5-hit combo of diagonal slashes. It was capped off by an upward cut that knocked Anti-Riku into the air where Nox jumped up and unleashed an aerial combo that caused devastating damage as the boss was hit back to the ground. Nox then dived at him, preparing to unleash another flurry of attacks, but Anti-Riku was ready for him and sidestepped the attack. Nox turned around and brought his Keyblade up in time to intercept Anti-Riku's attack. Their Keyblades locked as they stared at each other. Nox noticed that Anti-Riku was down to his last health bar, and it was in the red.

Nox narrowed his eyes and pushed with all of his strength, trying to push Anti-Riku away, but he was met with the boss planting a boot in his gut and kicking him back. Nox clenched his gut, tried to bring his keyblade up to defend himself, only to have it swatted out of his hand. Anti-Riku then delivered an upward slash to Nox's chin, knocking him onto his back. His head hit the damp street and he tasted iron in his mouth. Anti-Riku loomed above him, ready to deliver the killing blow. He raised Oblivion over his head and…. stopped and looked down at his chest. The tip of a sword was protruding from it. As Anit-Riku's health depleted to zero, he exploded in blue and green pixels, revealing Essix with his sword outstretched and panting heavily.

"Well that was good timing." Nox remarked as he cast a Cura spell. Immediately he felt strength surge back into his body and his HP steadily increased into the green area. As he stood to his feat, he noticed Essix's health returning as well, and that his health bar seemed to be substantially longer than it was a few moments before.

"How many levels did you just gain?" Nox asked in awe, noticing that he had gained two levels himself.

"Well I'm now level 11, so you do the math." Essix replied. "I also got some loot, **Riku's Blindfold,** it says it increases my speed by 2, my defense by 3 and when I get to level 30 it will let me use **Dark Aura** and **Dark Firaga**." He then equipped the item, causing his eyes to be covered by a grey blindfold.

"Can you still see through that thing?" Nox asked

"Of course he can, I wouldn't make any rewards take away players sight." A dignified voice said.

Nox turned around and found himself face to hood with Kayaba Akihito, sitting in what seemed to be a more utilitarian chair.

"Now, before you get slash happy, I should explain that this is a pre-recorded hologram. Now, congratulations on beating the first boss in this world! It's a lot of progress for one day, and I'm guessing you're going to need items and a place to rest so…" Kayaba then snapped his fingers, and a few of the buildings that were surrounding Nox and Essix glowed a bright white light, and then when it faded, signs appeared above the doorways. "You can go ahead and rest in the Skyscraper. This area has now turned into a safe zone since you defeated the boss inhabiting the area." He continued, and then unceremoniously disappeared into a stream of data.

Nox looked at Essix "Lets go get some rest, we're probably going to have a long day of grinding ahead of us tomorrow." The two friends then dragged themselves up the steps of Memories Skyscraper and through its doors where they were greeted with a room full of beds. They both looked at each other and flopped on the two that were in front of them, getting some much needed rest.


End file.
